Short taxi rides in central Tokyo just became cheaper. Starting today (Jan 30), most taxis set their initial fare at about 3.6 dollars for just over 1 kilometer. The previous fare was about 6.4 dollars for the first 2 kilometers. Rides will get cheaper for up to 1.7 kilometers, but turn higher when the distance […]
A lunar New Year festival with more than 15,000 lanterns is underway in Nagasaki, western Japan. The Nagasaki Lantern Festival coincides with the Chinese New Year and symbolizes the city’s long history of exchanges with other countries. A lighting ceremony was held in Minato Park to open the festival on Saturday evening. The main display […]
The operator of Narita Airport near Tokyo says the number of foreigners who used the facility for international flights last year marked a record high and exceeded that of Japanese passengers. The operator says more than 32 million people flew to and from the airport’s international terminals in 2016. It says that with transit passengers […]
A weather observatory in Japan’s northernmost city of Wakkanai says it has spotted ice floes offshore for the first time this winter. The observatory reported seeing ice drifting near the coast of Wakkanai on Wednesday. The observation was made 19 days earlier than usual. The season’s first ice floes in the region are usually seen […]
The operator of Narita International Airport launched a demonstration trial on Monday for a robot that takes away the used dishes of lounge users at the airport in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo. Narita International Airport Corp. plans to promote the use of robots to improve passenger service ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and […]
Tokyo police have arrested 3 Chinese people who they suspect are members of the “Pink Panda” crime gang for allegedly stealing jewelry at a trade fair in January last year. Police believe the suspects stole a diamond ring worth 2.8 million yen, or about 25,000 dollars, at the fair, one of Japan’s biggest trade shows […]
A cold air mass gripping Japan is bringing record heavy snowfall in the mountainous regions of Tottori and other western prefectures. Weather officials say Daisen in Tottori had 2.1 meters of snow on the ground as of Tuesday morning. Snow was 1.2 meters deep in Shobara City in Hiroshima Prefecture. Up to 60 centimeters of […]
Samsung Electronics says faulty batteries are mainly to blame for its smartphones catching fire. It stopped producing and selling the Galaxy Note 7 as some handsets, sold mainly in the US and South Korea, caught fire just after sales started in August. The South Korean firm released the results of its probe at a news […]
The government has decided to launch an online service to allow foreign nationals to apply and update their residency status in Japan from fiscal 2018, one of a series of measures aimed at improving business efficiency in order to attract more foreign investment. It will also ease requirements for foreigners with highly-specialized knowledge to gain […]
Events were held on Tuesday morning to mark the 22nd anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake in Hyogo Prefecture. The earthquake, which struck at 5:46 a.m. on Jan 17, 1995, killed 6,434 people in Hyogo Prefecture and neighboring areas. A ceremony was held in Higashi Yuenchi Park in Kobe where lanterns were lit and placed […]
